N.Y. Zombies in review – The undead rise again… and again…

From Foursaken Media comes N.Y. Zombies, another 3D over the shoulder zombie killing fest. This one takes more of the Zombieland approach to storytelling and game play, where a strange something is turning everyone into zombies and you set out to discover what’s going on. I like the fact that even though you play the game from a fixed position you still progress through different areas so it feels like the situation is always changing. I’m not very good at this type of game, so the 360 degree playing field can be a bit much for me at times, but overall this is quite an enjoyable romp and further cements my desires to be a zombie slayer when I grow up (just kidding, because zombies were people once too, you know).

In N.Y. Zombies you play a guy just trying to survive and figure out what’s going on in zombie-riddled New York. You start out simply trying to get away from your apartment and progress through several levels of zombie blasting mayhem, raising money by killing zombies and saving those that haven’t turned. The story plays out as a series of journal entries written by the main character, each one concluding with a trip to the store to buy new weapons, upgrade old ones and even get a few sundries like health kits, followed by some participatory combat sequences. For those not interested in a story there’s endless mode, where you just kill zombies and shop for weapons.

Combat is a point and click affair, and instead of worrying about collecting ammo all you have to be concerned with is weapons taking time to reload. The down side is you get the urge to try and shoot zombies while they’re far away, but don’t rely on this unless you have weapons that can zoom in, because the last thing you want is your weapon to be reloading and suddenly zombies are upon you from another direction. There are quick pick buttons at the bottom of the screen that let you tap to choose a weapon.

To rotate your view you can drag / swipe left or right, or if a zombie is attacking you there will be an arrow you can tap to quick face the zombie. You can also tap the radar to adjust your position, but I haven’t quite figured out how that works yet. The controls are relatively simple to use, but sometimes I have trouble easily swiveling to face a group of zombies unless one of them is attacking me. I also don’t care for the fact that in order to use a rapid fire weapon like an Uzi you have to continually tap the screen instead of being able to just press and fire until you release your touch.

I like the visuals, though I’d have to say the feel a bit more blocky than another recent 3D zombie favorite of mine, Undead: In The Last Refuge. This is especially noticeable in things like the rain effect that looks like lines instead of drops. However, I love the details, like flies buzzing around in the hallway or papers blowing on the wind when you’re in the street. Humanoid characters (zombies, survivors) aren’t bad, but they tend to have really long arms that to me look a bit awkward. Overall I think they’ve done a pretty good job with the graphics.

The sound effects make you feel just like you’re in the middle of a zombie film, and of course you get the loudly beating heart when you’re about ready to die. The music does a great job of capturing the melancholy atmosphere of the game. While there’s nothing overly exciting about the audio, it sets a nice stage for the action.

I’ve really come to appreciate the whole 3D zombie ordeal, and right now you have two really good choices with N.Y. Zombies and Undead: In The Last Refuge. If you like story, multiple locations and a crazy amount of artillery to choose from, this is the better choice. I just can’t wait to find out how the story ends.

Hey! Thanks for the review Not sure if you played the tutorial or not, but tapping the mini map makes you do a 180 degree quick turn. Also for full auto weapons, you simply double tap and hold to continually fire

Thanks again.

Eric Pankoke

I did play the tutorial at one point, but apparently I don’t remember it very well It would be nice if when you tapped the mini-map it actually turned to the section you tapped instead of always doing a 180 degree turn.